Device for biasing yarn into fixed position for use with yarn cutting mechanism of automatic doffing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An automatic doffing apparatus adapted for use with a spinning machine comprises a yarn cutting mechanism, which serves to cut the spun yarn prior to doffing and includes a stationary divergent yarn guide disposed in the vicinity of a cutter section of the cutting mechanism. The yarn guide is formed with a yarn restraining part in side by side relation with the blades of the cutter in a yarn cutting position thereof. A device for biasing the yarn into a fixed position, i.e., into the said yarn restraining part of the yarn guide includes a pair of yarn biasing members operable to open and close to thereby positively direct the yarn into the yarn restraining part of the yarn guide.

Yoshizawa etal.

ates aten 1191 [111 3,855,771 Dec. 24, 1974 DEVICE FOR BIASING YARN INTOFIXED POSITION FOR USE WITH YARN CUTTING MECHANISM OF AUTOMATIC DOFFINGAPPARATUS Inventors: Toshio Yoshizawa, Chiryu; Yasuo Yamada; ToshinoriTaniguchi, both of Kariya; Tatsuo Kose; Kazuo Ohchi, both of Yoshibara;Kiyokazu Hori, Sabae, all of Japan Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha ToyodaJidoshokki Seisakusho, Kariya, Aichi-Prefecture; Daiwa Boseki KabushikiKaisha, Osaka, both of, Japan Filed: Dec. 5, 1973 Appl. No.: 421,926

us. 01 57/53, 57/107, 57/54 1m. 01. D0111 9/16,'D0lh 9/10 Field ofSearch 57/52, 53, 54, 58.89-58.95,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1934 Schaaff 57/107 X 3/1968Gillono 'et al. ..'57 53 X 3,449,902 6/1969 Whitney 57/53 X 3,696,60210/1972 OlSOn et al 1 57/53 3,791,126 2/1974' Kose et al. 57/53 PrimaryExaminerDonald E. Watkins Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wenderoth, Lind &Ponack [5 7 ABSTRACT An automatic doffing apparatus adapted for use witha spinning machine comprises a yarn cutting mechanism, which serves tocut the spun yarn prior to doffing and includes a stationary divergentyarn guide disposed in the vicinity of a cutter section of the cuttinggmechanism. The yarn guide is formed with a yarn restraining part inside by side relation with the blades of the cutter in a yarn'cuttingposition thereof. A device for biasing the yarn into a fixed position,i.e., into the said yarn restraining part of the yarn guide includes apair of yarn biasing members operable to open and close to therebypositively direct the yarn into the yarn restraining part of the yarnguide.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures DEVICE FOR BIASING YARN INTO FIXED POSITIONFOR USE WITH YARN CUTTING MECHANISM OF AUTOMATIC DOFFING APPARATUSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an automaticdoffing apparatus adapted for use with spinning machineries wheredoffing of cheeses or packages is necessarily effected, such for exampleas, an open end spinning machine, a cheese winding machine, and the likeand more particularly to a yarn cutting mechanism of the doffingapparatus provided with a device for biasing a spun yarn into a fixedposition, prior to its being cut for doffing full packages.

For example, an automatic doffing apparatus, mounted on an open endspinning machine to move along the front thereof, is adapted to demountfull bobbins or packages frombobbin holders and to apply empty bobbinsto the bobbin holders, from which the full packages have been doffed.Prior to doffing the packages, it is of course necessary to cut therespective yarns. This must be done in a very short time by reason that,when cutting the yarn, it is being taken up while making a traversemotion to form the package and the doffing apparatus is moving along thefront of the spinning machine. The cutting also must be done whilemaintaining the yarn stationary with respect to a direction of the yarntraverse motion, i.e., allowing the yarn always to pass a fixedposition, at which the yarn is to be cut, during the cutting.

With a prior automatic doffing apparatus, a yarn cutting mechanism hashad a divergent yarn guide mounted thereon so that the yarn is adaptedto be centrally guided by the divergent guide to be brought into a fixedposition at which to be cut by the cutter. If it is assumed that theyarn is just in the fixed central position when the cutter is ready tocut the yarn, the cutting can be done with meeting the aboverequirements. However, assuming that the yarn is traversing in adirection away from the central fixed position when the yarn is ready tocut the yarn, the cutting cannot be carried out until the yarn reachesback the central fixed position. This means the cutting to be delayedand not to be done within the given short time, resulting in adisadvantage that the doffing apparatus does not operate in a requiredmanner. In case where a fine count yarn is to be spun, the abovedisadvantage becomes more conspicuous because of lower spinning andtraversing speeds of the fine count yarn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly an object of this inventionto provide a device for biasing a yarn into a fixed position adapted foruse with a yarn cutting mechanism of an automatic doffing apparatus,which device allows the yarn to be cut effectively and surely in a veryshort time without presenting any disadvantages peculiar to the priorart cutting mechanism of the automatic doffing apparatus.

The above and further objects of this invention can be achieved byproviding a device for biasing a yarn into a fixed position for use witha yarn cutting mechanism of an automatic doffing apparatus, for doffingfull packages one by one from a plurality of spinning units, arranged inside-by-side relation, of a spinning machinery while travelling alongthe front of the spinning machinery, the cutting mechanism being movableinto a yarn cutting position to cut the yarn prior to doffing thecorresponding full package; the yarn biasing device comprising astationary divergent yarn guide disposed in the vicinity of a cuttersection of the cutting mechanism and formed with a yarn restrainingpart, the yarn being guided to traverse along the divergent surface ofthe yarn guide when the cutting mechanism is brought into the yarncutting position; and means for forcibly directing the yarn traversingalong the yarn guide surface into the yarn restraining part when theyarn is to be cut, whereby the yarn is cut effectively and surely in avery short time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will become more readilyapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an automatic doffing apparatusincluding a yarn cutting mechanism, which employs a device for biasing ayarn into a fixed position according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view explaining an operation of the yarn cutting mechanismof FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the yarn biasing device according to theinvention, with a cutter removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there isshown, by way of example, a part of an open end spinning machinecomprising a spinning unit 8, in which reference numeral S designates aspinning part including a feed roller, a fiber opening mechanism, arotary spinning chamber, and a yarn outlet tube, by which a sliver Ffrom a sliver can (not shown) is spun into a yarn 2; 34 a spun yarntakeup roller, 35 grooved traversing roller; 9 a bobbin holder holding abobbin 4; and 10 a yarn package or cheese formed by winding the spunyarn 2 on the bob bin 4. As is known, the open end spinning machinegenerally comprises a plurality of the abovedescribed spinning unitsarranged in side-by-side relation.

The open end spinning machine further comprises an automatic doffingapparatus 1, which is designed such that it performs the operations ofdemounting the packages of a predetermined amount of spun yarn, i.e.,the full packages 10, from the respective spinning units and mountingthe empty bobbins 4 in the resultant vacancies automaticallysequentially according to a predetermined program, while moving alongthe front of the open end spinning machine. For the purpose ofperforming the above operations, the main body of the doffing apparatus1 comprises a yarn cutting mechanism 3 movable into a yarn cuttingposition shown by the imagination in FIG. 2 for cutting the yarn 2 priorto doffing; a rotary doffer 7 for demounting the full packages 10 fromthe bobbin holder 9 of the spinning machine and applying the emptybobbins 4 thereto by using a bobbin catcher 5 forming part of the rotarydoffer; and an empty bobbin transmission mechanism 6 for transferringthe empty bobbins 4 from an empty bobbin accommodating part (not shown)of the doffing apparatus to a predetermined position on a locus of thecatcher 5 of the rotary doffer.

The detailed description of the yarn cutting mechanism 3 embodying thepresent invention will be made hereinafter; however, those of the bobbincatcher 5,

transmission mechanism 6 and rotary doffer 7 and a driving mechanism(s)therefor will be omitted since they are not concerned with the subjectmatter of this invention.

In general, the yarn cutting mechanism 3 with yarn suction means to bedescribed latter serves to cut, prior to doffing, the spun yarn 2extending to the package 10 and to suck successively thereafter the spunyarn 2 being delivered from the spinning part S towards the automaticdoffer 7, while the package 10 is being doffed, so as to facilitate thelapping of the spun yarn 2 on the empty bobbin 4.

In FIGS. 1 3, the yarn cutting mechanism 3 according to the presentinvention is turnable, in the direction shown by the double-headedarrow, along with a pin 11 by driving a cam 13 which is, when driven,capable of oscillating a sector gear 14 engaging with a pinion means 12mounted on the pin 11. The cutting mechanism 3 comprises a support 15secured to the pin 11, which support has at one end a yarn suctionnozzle 16 and a cutter 17 mounted thereon. The cutter 17 (not shown inFIG. 3) may be ofa scissors type having a pair of yarn cutting bladesmounted on a pin 18 for pivotal movement in opposite directions. On thepin 18 also mounted is a stationary yarn guide 19 consisting of a pairof slightly upwardly inclined arms with a yarn restraining part or aslit 20 formed therebetween for the purpose to be described latter. Theslit 20 is formed such that the blades of the cutter 17 when in theclosed or yarn cutting state are brought in side-by-side relation withthe slit 20. Furthermore, the pin 18 has a pair of yarn forcing arms 21and 22 turnably mounted thereon on the side of the yarn guide 19. Thearms 21 and 22 operate to close and open, thereby forcibly directing thetraversing yarn 2 into the slit 20. The forcing arms 21 and 22intercross at the pin 18 and their lower ends are connected respectivelyto upper ends of a pair of links 23 and 24. Lower ends of the links 23and 24 are connected by a common pin 26 to the free end of an operatingrod 25, which is supported for sliding movement by supports or guides 27and 28 attached to the support 15. The other end of the operating rod isconnected to a plunger 30 of a solenoid 29 which is, in turn, alsosecured to the support 15. The operating rod 25 is normally biased insuch a direction as allowing the forcing arms 21 and 22 to open by acoil spring 32 disposed on the operating rod 25 between the guide 28 anda stop plate 31. Connected to the end of the support 15 remote from thesuction nozzle 16 is a balance weight 33. This solenoid 29 may be commonto the cutter 17 and the yarn forcing arms 21 and 22.

In operation, when it is desired to cut the yarn 2 leading to thepackage 10, the yarn cutting mechanism 3 is rotated counterclockwisefrom a phantom line position designated by a reference numeral 3" inFIG. 2 through the solid line position to a phantom line positiondesignated by a reference numeral 3' in FIG. 2 and the head portion ofthe yarn cutting mechanism 3 is located in the yarn cutting positionbetween the take-up roller 34 and the traversing roller 35. When thecutting mechanism 3 reaches this position, the solenoid 29 is excitedone or more times in a known manner to retract the operating rod 25against the action of the coil spring 32, whereby the yarn forcing arms21 and 22 are rotated toward each other as shown by the imagination inFIG. 3 for each excitation of the solenoid 29. At this time, the yarn 2,which is now passing between the blades of the cutter 17 whilecontacting with and traversing along the yarn guide 19 is forciblybrought into the slit 20 by the forcing arms 21 and 22 irrespective ofthe yarn traversing direction. Immediately thereafter or substantiallyat the same time, the blades of the cutter 17 are operated by thesolenoid 29 or by any other suitable means to pinch the yarn 2 passingthrough the slit 20, thus cutting the yarn at the fixed position. Thecut end of the yarn leading to the traversing roller 35 is taken up bythe package 10 and the other cut end of the yarn leading from thetake-up roller 34 is sucked into the suction nozzle 16 in the knownmanner, so that the spun yarn 2 delivered from the spinning part 8 iscontinuously sucked into the suction nozzle 16 as a cut yarn. Then, thecutting mechanism 3 is displaced from the position 3 to the phantom lineposition 3" of FIG. 2 under such condition.

With respect to the operations of the bobbin catcher 5, empty bobbintransmission mechanism 6 and rotary doffer 7, after the yarn 2 has beencut in the abovedescribed manner, first of all, a first packagereceiving and transporting plate 36 driven by a shaft 38, which alsodrives a second package receiving and transporting plate 37, lifts upthe package 10 and the holder 11 from a phantom line position tosubstantially a solid line position. At this time, the holder 11 isadapted to release the package 10 due to a not shown cam mounted on theshaft 38 and therefore the package 10 is allowed to drop on the firstplate 36. Upon further driving of the shaft 38 and hence the first andsecond plates 36 and 37, the package 10 received by the first plate 36is transferred onto the second plate 37, by which the package 10 istransported onto a pivotable gutter 41. The gutter 41 is incommunication with a package container (not shown) to feed the package10 thereto. The bobbin catcher 5 is rotated with the first and secondplates 36 and 37 by the shaft 38 and makes a circular motion shown by aphantom line in FIG. 1. The transmission mechanism 6 transfers the emptybobbin 4 to a predetermined position on the locus of the bobbin catcher5, allowing the empty bobbin 4 to be catched by the bobbin catcher 5.Then, the empty bobbin 4 is fed to the bobbin holder 9 and held by thesame.

According to this invention, when the cutting mechanism is ready to cutthe yarn leading to the package 10 while contacting the surface of theyarn guide, the yarn is adapted to be forcibly quickly brought by theyarn forcing members 21 and 22 into the slit 20 centrally positioned inthe yarn guide, so that the positive yarn cutting operation can becompleted within the given short time even when the yarn is traversingin a direction away from the central slit 20. This enables thesucceeding doffing and empty bobbin applying operations to have enoughtime.

What we claim is:

l. A device for biasing a yarn into a fixed position for use with a yarncutting mechanism of an automatic doffing apparatus for doffing fullpackages one by one from a plurality of spinning units, arrangedside-byside, ofa spinning machinery while travelling along the front ofthe spinning machinery, said cutting mechanism being movable into a yarncutting position to cut the yarn prior to doffing the corresponding fullpackage: said device comprising a divergent yarn guide disposed in thevicinity of a cutter of said cutting mechanism and formed with a yarnrestraining part, the yarn being guided to traverse along the divergentsurface of said yarn guide when said cutting mechanism is brought intosaid yarn cutting position; and means for forcibly directing the yarntraversing along the yarn guide surface toward said yarn restrainingpart when the yarn is to be cut, whereby the yarn is cut effectively andsurely always at the fixed position and in a very short time.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said yarn guide isfixedly secured to a pin mounted on a support of said cutting mechanismfor carrying a pair of blades of the cutter movable thereabout to openand close, said yarn restraining part being so located as to extendsubstantially in parallel to the cutter blades in the closed state.

3. The device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said yarn directing meanscomprises a pair of yarn forcing members turnably carried by said pinand, when it is desired to cut the yarn, said yarn forcing members turntoward each other to forcibly direct the yarn into said yarn restrainingpart.

4. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said yarn directing meansis controlled by a solenoid.

5. The device as set forth in claim 4, wherein said solenoid alsocontrols the opening and closing of the cutter.

6. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said yarn restrainingpart is an oblong slot.

7. A yarn cutting mechanism of an automatic doffmg apparatus for doffingfull packages one by one from a plurality of spinning units, arrangedside-by-side, of a spinning machinery, while travelling along the fromof the spinning machinery, said cutting mechanism comprising a supportmovable to bring said cutting mechanism into a yarn cutting position; acutter consisting of a pair of blades carried by said support forpivotal motion to close and open; a divergent yarn guide carried by saidsupport and formed with a yarn restraining part so arranged as to extendsubstantially in parallel to said blades in the closed state, said yarnguide being brought into contact with the yarn, when said cuttingmechanism is in the yarn cutting position, to guide the yarn into saidyarn restraining part; a solenoid carried by said support to cause thepivotal motion of said blades; and a pair of arms carried by saidsupport for pivotal motion to close and open, said arms forcibly andquickly directing, when they close, the yarn toward said yarnrestraining part, whereby the yarn is cut effectively and surely alwaysat the fixed position and in a very short time.

8. A device for biasing a traversing yarn into a fixed position when theyarn is ready to be cut, comprising a divergent yarn guide movable,prior to cutting the yarn, into contact with the yarn to allow it totraverse along the divergent surface of said yarn guide, said yarn guidebeing formed with a yarn restraining part by which the yarn isrestrained when the traversing yarn reaches there, and means forforcibly directing the traversing yarn toward said yarn restrainingpart, said directing means movable integral with said yarn guide toapproach to the traversing yarn and including a pair of forcing armsturnable with respect to said yarn guide in opposite directions whileforcibly directing the yarn toward said yarn restraining part.

1. A device for biasing a yarn into a fixed position for use with a yarncutting mechanism of an automatic doffing apparatus for doffing fullpackages one by one from a plurality of spinning units, arrangedside-by-side, of a spinning machinery while travelling along the frontof the spinning machinery, said cutting mechanism being movable into ayarn cutting position to cut the yarn prior to doffing the correspondingfull package: said device comprising a divergent yarn guide disposed inthe vicinity of a cutter of said cutting mechanism and formed with ayarn restraining part, the yarn being guided to traverse along thedivergent surface of said yarn guide when said cutting mechanism isbrought into said yarn cutting position; and means for forciblydirecting the yarn traversing along the yarn guide surface toward saidyarn restraining part when the yarn is to be cut, whereby the yarn iscut effectively and surely always at the fixed position and in a veryshort time.
 2. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said yarnguide is fixedly secured to a pin mounted on a support of said cuttingmechanism for carrying a pair of blades of the cutter movable thereaboutto open and close, said yarn restraining part being so located as toextend substantially in parallel to the cutter blades in the closedstate.
 3. The device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said yarndirecting means comprises a pair of yarn forcing members turnablycarried by said pin and, whEn it is desired to cut the yarn, said yarnforcing members turn toward each other to forcibly direct the yarn intosaid yarn restraining part.
 4. The device as set forth in claim 1,wherein said yarn directing means is controlled by a solenoid.
 5. Thedevice as set forth in claim 4, wherein said solenoid also controls theopening and closing of the cutter.
 6. The device as set forth in claim1, wherein said yarn restraining part is an oblong slot.
 7. A yarncutting mechanism of an automatic doffing apparatus for doffing fullpackages one by one from a plurality of spinning units, arrangedside-by-side, of a spinning machinery, while travelling along the frontof the spinning machinery, said cutting mechanism comprising a supportmovable to bring said cutting mechanism into a yarn cutting position; acutter consisting of a pair of blades carried by said support forpivotal motion to close and open; a divergent yarn guide carried by saidsupport and formed with a yarn restraining part so arranged as to extendsubstantially in parallel to said blades in the closed state, said yarnguide being brought into contact with the yarn, when said cuttingmechanism is in the yarn cutting position, to guide the yarn into saidyarn restraining part; a solenoid carried by said support to cause thepivotal motion of said blades; and a pair of arms carried by saidsupport for pivotal motion to close and open, said arms forcibly andquickly directing, when they close, the yarn toward said yarnrestraining part, whereby the yarn is cut effectively and surely alwaysat the fixed position and in a very short time.
 8. A device for biasinga traversing yarn into a fixed position when the yarn is ready to becut, comprising a divergent yarn guide movable, prior to cutting theyarn, into contact with the yarn to allow it to traverse along thedivergent surface of said yarn guide, said yarn guide being formed witha yarn restraining part by which the yarn is restrained when thetraversing yarn reaches there, and means for forcibly directing thetraversing yarn toward said yarn restraining part, said directing meansmovable integral with said yarn guide to approach to the traversing yarnand including a pair of forcing arms turnable with respect to said yarnguide in opposite directions while forcibly directing the yarn towardsaid yarn restraining part.